


HE HERO 



OF THT 



CAMERON DAM 




OR SKETCH OF 

JOHN F. DEITZ 



r Companies 



Gustatson, i^h. I 




THE HERO 



OF THE 



CAMERON DAM 

Or Sketch of 

JOHN F. DEITZ 

AND HIS STRUGGLE WITH 
THE LUMBER COMPANIES 



By Axel Gustafson, Ph. D. 

Author of The Foundation of Death, Etc. 



Copyright applied for. 



This stoiy of the life of John F. Deitz is author- 
ized and endorsed by the Deitz Defense Committee 
and published for the purpose of raising funds to 
secure the best legal talent for the defense of John 
F. Deitz and his family. 



.A\44 



"Under present conditions, the poor 
man is at a woeful disadvantage in a legal 
contest with a corporation or a rich 
opponent. The necessity for the reform 
exists, both in the United States Courts, 
and in all State Courts." 

Irom President Taft's Annual Message 
to Congress, Tuesday, Dec. (i, 1910. 



The Co-operative 

Printery, 

344 Sixth Street, 

Milwaukee. 



CCU280159 




Courtesy Milwaukee Journal. 

John F. Deitz 

The Hero of Cameron Dam, whom the authorities com- 
manded by the Weyerhauser Lumber Trust are trying to 
railroad to a felon's cell for life because he defended his 
home, his family and himself from official and officially 
hired assassins. 



FOREWORD. 

There is an instinct, well nigh indestruc- 
tible, enthroned in the human breast, which 
we commonly name justice or fair play. 

As this instinct has been dominant in 
human affairs, has humanity progressed and 
prospered; and. on the other hand, wherever 
and to the extent that this innate demand 
for justice and fair play has been denied, has 
humanity suffered and deteriorated. 

The basic foundation of our government 
rests on that demand. Our Declaration of 
Independence in revolutionary terms voices 
it. Our federal constitution and all the con- 
stitutions of the several states, that of Wis- 
consin included, as well as all other stat- 
utory laws, both state and national, are 
framed with that fundamental end in view. 
All their injunctions, prohibitions and puni- 
tive provisions have been professedly passed 
for the purpose of insuring, protecting and 
safeguarding this innate claim to justice 
and fair play under all conditions to all and 
every human being living within the boun- 
daries of these United States of America. It 
is in the name of this basic right of human- 
ity, on the strength of its recognition in all 
our legislation, that Deitz' friends demand a 
fair trial; it is to this spirit in America that 
Mr. Deitz and his family, and we who are 
pleading their cause, are directing our ap- 
peal to secure it for him. 



ANNOUNCEMENT. 

The facts of John F. Deitz's six years' battle against the 
Chippewa Falls and Mississippi Valley Lumber Companies 
hereby presented to the public, have been obtained from 
personal interviews with members of the Deitz family, cor- 
roborated by parties who know Mr. Deitz and who have 
lived for years in those regions of Wisconsin. Valuable 
material has also been gathered from the files of Wisconsin 
newspapers, such as the Milwaukee Journal, Milwaukee 
Times, Ashland News, Sheboygan Daily Press, Fond du Lac 
Bulletin, Hayward Enterprise, and especially the so-called 
Deitz edition of the Osceola Sun, published October 25, 1906. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

The true story of John F. Deitz's tribulations because 
he has stood up for his rights regardless of consequences, is 
as pathetic and tragic as the tale of Uncle Tom's Cabin. 

Uncle Tom's case was typical of the fate meted out to a 
colored slave who dared to live true to his conviction at the 
cost of his life. The case of John F. Deitz is typical of what 
a poor homesteader in the north woods must endure if he 
dares to assert his legal rights in opposition to the Missis- 
— — sippi Valley-Weyerhauser Lumber Trust. Uncle Tom was 
whipped to death for refusing to yield to the foul commands 
of Legree ; and, unless a righteous indignation throughout 
the land saves John F. Deitz, he will probably end his life 
in a felon's cell, for no other reason than that he defended 
his family, his home and himself from official and officially 
hired assassins. 

And the marvelous escapes from death by all the members 
of the family— save a child who died after drinking water 
drawn from a well poisoned by an Indian employee of the 
Chippewa Lumber Company— unmistakeably points to a 
superior power holding its protecting hand over this little 
band of heroes. During the persecution of Deitz, two sher- 
iffs, sooner than execute the vile demands of the courts and 
county board, have resigned. And one sheriff, Mr. Peterson, 
who has just died at the Ashland Hospital, not only was dis- 
missed because he refused to persecute Deitz, but fined 
$1,000 and put in jail for three months for neglect of duty. 

Northern Wisconsin is rich in fertile fields. It should be 
inhabited by a large, prosperous and happy population, but 
instead it is sparsely populated, largely an uninhabited 
wilderness, and all simply because the arrogant lumber 
companies make slaves of those who enter these regions or 

else drive them away. It ought to be to the interest of the 
whole state of Wisconsin to vigorously support Mr. Deitz 
in his unequal battle with these corporations to secure a fair 
chance for the farmer and homesteader who settles up there. 



CHAPTER I. 
The Early Life of John F. Deitz. 



John is of German origin, a native of Wisconsin, about 
50 years of age. He has passed the greater part of his life 
in Sawyer county, chiefly at Rice Lake. He has filled several 
official positions in that place and for twenty years was a 
justice of the peace in that community. There he married 
and has now a family of six living children. 

The Hayward Election of 1902. 

In the spring of 1902 Deitz journeyed to Hayward to 
cast his flrst vote in that place. Owing to the disturbed 
political condition of the community, he was appointed a 
deputy sheriff. 

For a long time the lumber companies had elected their 
henchmen as officers of Sawyer county. The Hayward gang 
of grafters ruled the whole county. (Hayward is called the 
"Robbers' RooSt. ") At that time the people had become 
disgusted. They demanded a change. In the election it 
soon became apparent that the gang would be turned out. 

As that election was destined to have such a fateful 
influence upon Deitz 's life, I condense the graphic descrip- 
tion of that election furnished by W. E. Schei, editor of the 
Hayward Enterprise, in the Osceola Sun, October 25, 1906 : 

"The better class of citizens, long denied a voice in the affairs 
of town and county government, succeeded by a united front at 
the polls in electing a full set of town officers from Hayward's 
best men." 

Notwithstanding the overwhelming majority given to 
every man on this ticket, the officials doggedly hung to their 
offices. Not even waiting for a complete counting of the 
ballots, each of them hastened to the town clerk's office to 
checkmate by that move any contemplated action on the 

7 



part of the victors to take the offices contested for, and 
directed their healers at the polls to cease counting and 
lock tiie boxes. Throughout the night the excitement was 
intense. On the following day, Sheriff William Giblin cried 
for blood, and but for the cool head of John F. Deitz and 
other ]nen of his stamp, it probablj^ would have been shed. 
The people gathered at the town hall, chose Deitz as their 
spokesman. For four hours he pleaded and finally won, 
but Sheriff Giblin and Deputy Sheriff Madden— the same 
brute who has stained the name of Wisconsin with his 
infamies against the Deitz family — drunk with liquor, en- 
raged over the settlement, tried to create a riot as a cause 
for calling for troops, but Deitz 's coolness and tact foiled 
that attempt. In making the settlement of the election 
trouble, Deitz foresaw this danger and made demand for 
personal charge of the sheriff. So when Giblin telegraphed 
for troops Deitz countermanded his order, telling the Gov- 
ernor that the election trouble had been peaceably settled. 
Still the sheriff and his gang demanded either the offices 
or a riot. Deitz watched his man, however, and once when 
he made a threatening move towards his hip pocket Deitz 
brought him to his senses with a lightning slap. By his 
rare tact, courage and manliness Deitz won that election 
for good government. His signal victory over the gang 
made him both feared and hated. First they tried to corrupt 
him, and when they failed they swore his destruction. Since 
that time except for a visit to the town meeting, where he 
disarmed a man who tried to kill him, Deitz has rarely 
visited Hayward, and has taken no active part in its political 
campaigns. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Cameron Dam Struggle. 

The Case of the Lumber Companies. 



During all these years the lumber companies have main- 
tamed a special press bureau at Chippewa Falls for the 
purpose of discrediting Deitz and his case with the public 
at large. The falsehoods thus spread have been strength- 
ened by the enunciations in court of two judges branding 
Deitz as an anarchist and an outlaw. 

The companies declare that they are the rightful owners 
of the dam; that Deitz is a half savage, a bravado, a dead 
shot, always ready to pick off anybody who approaches his 
fortifications without search and permit; that he has defied 
the courts, killed deputies sent to serve notice of injunc- 
tions or with warrants for his arrest; that, finally the 
county having suffered this la^vless state for years its 
officials determined to put an end to it. But to prevent 
useless shedding of blood, the Governor offered Deitz an 
honorable compromise, which he flatly rejected; that then he 
was overpowered, taken prisoner with the rest of his family 
and put m jail; and that now they will have to bear the full 
penalty of the laAv. 

The Truth of the Matter. 

Until the time that Mr. Deitz moved to Cameron Dam 
as we have seen before, he bore an excellent reputation and 
demonstrated signally his good sense, honor, manhood and 
patriotism. These charges by the company, therefore, should 
require strong affirmation before people ought to believe 
that Mr. Deitz had become so different a man from what 
he had been in the past. It is well, therefore, for us to 
carefully examine these various points and charges pre- 
ferred against him by the companies and the courts 



Those "Fortifications." 

The companies declare that Deitz was entrenched in a 
veritable fortress. Here is an exact description of those 
fortifications. The cabin, an ordinary lumberman's log hut, 
consists of four rooms, one used as kitchen and living room, 
the others as bedrooms. There is no tree or particle of shelter 
around the building. Any marksman could hide among the 
heavy timber of the company's land, which lies only a 
hundred feet east of the Deitz farm, and pick off the mem- 
bers of the family without danger to himself. There are no 
barricades on doors or windows, not even a bolt for the 
door— only an ordinary wooden button. There is a barn 
some distance from the hut and also a root house. But 
neither of these buildings possess any indication of being 
constructed for or provided with defenses of any kind. 

Mr. Deitz 's Character. 

Many people have visited Mr. Deitz 's hospitable cabin, 
where everybody finds the latch string outside for their 
reception. All declare that his home life is unblemished ; 
that he is a kind father and loving husband, his children 
well educated and behaved. Those in Sawyer county who 
have known him for years say that he is a man of peace, 
the soul of honor, absolutely truthful, incorruptible and 
fearless. A firm believer in destiny, Deitz does not think 
that any protective steps he can take will either hasten or 
delay his demise an instant. Hence he doesn't believe in 
"fortifications." He goes about his work as unconcerned 
as though everything were peaceful. Neither he nor his 
hoys carry a gun while at work. He relies solely upon God, 
his good cause, his knowledge of the woods and two faithful 
dogs. 



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CHAPTER III. 

The Ownership of Cameron Dam. 

The lumber company asserts that the purchase of the 
hundred and sixty acres on the Thornapple Creek by Mrs. 
Deitz did not inchide the possession of the dam. Let us see 
how this tallies with facts. 

In the summer of 1900 Mrs. H. E. Deitz entered into 
negotiations with a Mrs. Jennie Cameron for the purchase 
of a two hundred acre homestead lot, including a dam on 
the borders of the Thornapple Creek. This dam had been 
built by lumbermen years ago to hold the water back for 
the floating out of cut logs. Mrs. Cameron gave Mrs. Deitz 
a clear warranty deed, dating back to 1867, for one hundred 
and sixty acres ; having failed to pay taxes on the remaining 
forty acres during the current year, she could not transfer 
them immediately. 

The warranty deed for the hundred and sixty acres 
given by Mrs. Cameron to Mrs. Deitz had previously 
been approved in two probate courts. No one having 
appeared to contest the right of transfer, by the laws 
of the state, all parties were "forever debarred" there- 
after from contesting its validitj". Later on that deed was 
also duly certified by Abstractor Ralph Tilstad, testifying 
that "There are no unredeemed tax sales of taxes due and 
unpaid against said land except as noted. There are no 
unsatisfied judgments entered against any party named in 
said abstract in any court of record having their records 
in said county, which are a lien on said lands, except as 
noted; and there are no mechanic's liens, attachments, lis 
pendens or other liens or notices entered against said laud, 
except as noted." 

Eight days later, October 11, 1900, on the strength of 
these documents, Mrs. Cameron transferred the said lot to 
Mrs. Deitz. As will be noticed, this abstract does not 
mention the dam. And it was not until four years later, 

15 



when the Deitzes took possession of their Cameron property, 
that the subsequent survey of the hind showed that the dam 
was inehided in the property. 

Company's Blunder. 

AVhen Mrs. Deitz purchased the property, the company, 
believing that the dam was included in the forty acres upon 
which no taxes had been paid, bluffed the county clerk into 
refusing Mrs. Cameron permission to redeem these forty 
acres, and later bought the lot themselves. 

When they found that the survey had included the dam 
within Deitz "s property they sent their own surveyor, who 
went thoroughly over the ground and thereafter told Deitz 
that the dam was on his property; that the company would 
pay him handsomely for its use and that he would return 
with their offer within a week. So he did, but all the com- 
pany offered for the use of the dam was $500, which Deitz, 
of course, refused to accept. 

Instead Mr. Deitz asked for the legal rates of flowage, 
ten cents per thousand feet, for logs run through the dam, 
including the same price for some seventy-five to eighty 
million feet of logs run through the dam by the company 
since he became its owner. This offer the company spurned. 

To show how fair Mr. Deitz has been in his eff'orts 
to have the question settled, although he firml.v believes 
he is the lawful owner of the dam and although his 
search of the Sawyer county records have failed to re- 
veal any reservations as regards the dam, yet from the 
beginning of the trouble he has expressed his readiness to 
receive officers of the law, business men, lumber jacks or 
whomsoever should like to discuss the subject with him, 
and h-as further declared that if anyone, not only the lumber 
company, but anybody, can prove to him that he is not the 
rightful owner of the dam, he is ready at any time to 
surrender it to its rightful owner. 

Indeed, for peace's sake, he has been willing to dispose 
of his little holdings for a reasonable compensation, which 

i6 



the companies liave never offered to give. But he would 
not be intimidated or be robbed. Can any decent man blame 
him for this? Ought he not to be honored and upheld in 
his brave but unequal struggle for justice? 

The Stnig-gle for the Protection of Cameron Dam. 

Next, the company tried to force their logs through the 
dam. Then Deitz and his boys drove off the company's 
employes and threatened to shoot them if they attempted 
to force a passage. When the company found that they 
could neither browbeat nor intimidate Deitz, they resorted 
to the usual means employed by great trusts and corpora- 
tions in such cases. They applied for an injunction. Al- 
though Deitz had not been notified, still the judge, John C. 
Parish, of the Fifteenth judicial district, readily granted 
the company's demand and enjoined Deitz from in any way 
interfering with the company's use of the dam. 

The late Sheriff Peterson was ordered to serve that in- 
junction. Recognizing its foulness, he did not serve it, but 
simply brought it with the mail to Deitz, telling him that his 
mail included an injunction. Upon examining the document, 
Deitz found it to be utterly worthless, for it was neither 
signed by the judge who issued it, nor by the sheriff, who 
should have served it, and besides, the injunction, such as 
it was, was not on Mrs. Deitz, the record owner of the land, 
but upon her husband, John F. Deitz. Naturally, Mr. Deitz 
gave it no consideration. 

On May 3, 1904, Deputy Sheriff Clark came to Deitz 's 
home. He had no warrant, but tried his best to induce 
Deitz to go with him to Hayward. Knowing too well that 
if he did so he w^ould be arrested and the company left free 
hand to use his dam as they saw fit, Deitz refused to go. 

On May 10 ex-Sheriff Giblin, his arch-enemy since the 
spring election at Hayward in 1902, accompanied by an- 
other enemy of Deitz 's, William Elliot, and a posse of 
heavily armed men, started for Deitz 's home to capture 
"the outlaw." Deitz had been apprised of their coming. 

17 



After an exchange of some harmless shots, Giblin and his 
gang retired. When later, Deitz met Sheriff Peterson he 
denounced Giblin 's outrage and Peterson explained that he 
had neither connection nor knowledge of it before it 
occurred. 

Deitz continued to prevent the sluicing of the company's 
logs through his dam. So again they went to their friend, 
Judge Parish, and he granted them another ex-parti in- 
junction, June 5, 1904, "perpetually" enjoining Deitz 
"from in any manner interfering with the plaintiffs or their 
assignees in operating the dam, which the evidence shows 
they own, and which the law says they may control." 

Parish's Infamous Injunction. 

In granting the injunction, basing his remarks upon 
Deitz having ignored the worthless paper called an injunc- 
tion, previously granted and by force resisting the out- 
rageous attack by ex-Sheriff Giblin, the Judge Pilate washed 
his hands of responsibility for the results of violence which 
his decision invoked by saying, "By the records of this case, 
the defendant, John F. Deitz, was summoned to appear in 
this court. He does not appear. By the records of this case 
he was duly served by an order from the court (this Judge 
Parish had the hardihood to say, notwithstanding the fact 
that lie himself had reprimanded Peterson, fined him $1,000 
and sentenced him to three months in jail for contempt of 
court for failing to serve that very injunction) ordering 
him not to molest nor in any way to interfere with the 
plaintiff' in the enjoyment of their rights of running the 
river and using the dam for floating logs down the stream. 

"The defendant has no defense, as far as this court is 
concerned, at this time ; he has absolutely refused to appear 
in court or make any demands upon this court for any relief 
under any pretended claim which he has, or may pretend 
to liave to the dam in question. He keeps beyond the reach 
of courts ; he keeps his hand upon his rifle, and defies every 
man in this community and every man in the state of Wis- 
consin. 

i8 



"He says, 'I have possession of this, no matter how 
1 have obtained it, and I am going to enforce that posses- 
sion, and if any person attempts in any manner to interfere 
Avith me in my (apparently unlawful) possession I will kill 
liim.' Now, any man who makes statements of that kind— 
and that is proven here by the witnesses— simply defies the 
law, and he is no more entitled to respect than any anarchist 
who defies government, defies law and defies order, for 
society is entirely dependent upon people submitting to the 
law. 

" 'And I will say here that if there is not enough strength 
in the officers of the law and the people of Sawyer county, 
the state of Wisconsin is bound to lend its aid in putting 
down lawlessness, come wdiere it will, and if there is not 
enough power in the state, the government of the United 
States, upon being legally called upon for aid, will grant it." 

That Anarchist Order. 

After granting that unspeakable injunction this most 
"learned and righteous" judge, who resides at Ashland, 
sixty miles from Hayward, upon his own responsibility, 
wholly outside of the law, made a requisition upon Harry 
Adley, commander of Company D of the militia, requiring 
him to send an armed detachment of militiamen to Hayward 
and thence go to Cameran Dam and take Deitz dead or alive. 

This Adley refused to do, informing Judge Parish that 
he took no orders from anyone save the state authorities. 
Thereupon this poser for law and order engaged some bums 
of the company to take guns from the armory and bring 
them to Hayward. 

This they did, but on arriving there they could find no 
one willing to take charge of Judge Parish's anarchist ex- 
pedition. So they had to bring their guns home again. 

Reader, in view of such outrages, can you blame Deitz 
for not trusting himself and his case to a judge like that? 

That injunction was never served. Under guise of seek- 
ing to serve it on the "outlaw" mock attempts were made 

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with armed posses so as to convey to the public the idea 
that Deitz was the most dangerous character. The outrages 
to which Deitz has been subjected are numerous, and only 
some of the most damnable can here be referred to. 

For instance, a former friend of Deitz named Weisenbach, 
by promises of golden reward, was induced to betray his 
friend. He did his best to entice him where he could be 
taken, but Deitz saw through the scheme. Later, thinking 
that Deitz did not know his falseness, they arrested Weisen- 
bach, expecting that Deitz 's loyalty would bring him to the 
rescue, and when he failed to fall in the trap they denounced 
him for treachery to his friend. 

Even his mail was tampered with. The messenger was 
waylaid by Ray Van Alstyne and one Wynn. They took the 
mail to Winter, opened it and threw it down on the back bar 
of the saloon. Deitz reported the robbery to the postoffice 
department, and an inspector was assigned to the ease. It 
went before the court at La Crosse. 

There the assistant United States District Attorney de 
clared that the evidence was faulty and the case was dis- 
missed. Said Deitz pointedly in this connection: "Why 
the case was dismissed, I leave the public to judge." 

The most daring and contemptible of these lawless out- 
rages was the attack upon Deitz July 26, 1906. The Sawyer 
county sheriff had not been able to find in Hayward men 
low and cowardly enough to do his work of intended 
murder, so he sent to Milwaukee for thugs, dressed them in 
Wisconsin militia uniforms and took them to Cameron Dam, 
hoping thus to deceive and overawe Deitz. 

But, said the Milwaukee Journal at the time, "Deitz 
could not be deceived; he saw the wolf in the lion's skin 
and he punctured the skin of the wolf with a bullet from a 
Winchester." Of the deputies, the Journal says: "They ran 
when firing began. They ran faster, abandoning a wounded 
companion, when some one yelled that Deitz was after 
them." 

The wounded man was a Milwaukee thug of Austrian 
birth, named Rogich. He had shot Clarence Deitz in the 




Photo by Klein. Milw. 



Clarence Deitz 

The young "Outlaw" whose sole offense was that 
Rogich failed to kill him. 



head, and when his father saw Clarence fall he fired in the 
direction the shot came from and winged the thug. Do 
you blame him? 

In his place would you not have acted as he did? 
Wasn't his act one of lawful self-defense? And yet, John 
Deitz is to stand trial for wilful assault with intent to kill 
because he protected his family from nnirder. 

In 1907 Representative Frank Weber introduced in the 
legislature a resolution calling for a committee to investi-- 
gate the Deitz Cameron Dam trouble and report the condi- 
tions just as they found them. 

This committee was simply to be appointed to report 
upon the conditions, not to decide the right or wrong of the 
case. And yet, the legislature, by a vote of 42 to 23, turned 
that resolution down on the ground that the legislature had 
no jurisdiction in such matters ! 

CHAPTER IV 
Deitz' Letters. 

Abstracts from a long letter by Mr. John F. Deitz, pub- 
lished in the Osceola Sun, Oct. 25, 1906, showing the character 
of the man, and giving his own version of the manner in which 
he had been treated by the Sawyer county authorities up to that 
time: 

"I have been termed an 'outlaw.' Well, if I am, that occupa- 
tion would appear to be more honorable than law and order. I 
have never paraded in disguise or under an assumed name; I 
have never tried to gain any advantages on false pretenses, or 
'bellied' around through the grass, as the agents of the so-called 
department of justice have done; I have never been afraid to 
meet any man or body of men face to face, and I have never 
been ashamed to tell the truth about what I have done, as they 
have; and I have never struck a blow without warning, as 
Rogich did — even a rattlesnake wouldn't do that." 

Re Injunctions and Warrants. 

"If there are any warrants out for me they have grown out 
of this controversy, and I see by newspaper accounts that I have 
been tried and condemned (in my absence) and denounced as 
an 'outlaw,' 'anarchist,' 'traitor,' etc., by two circuit judges and 
one United States district judge, for the same old song, and all 
contrary to the constitution, the foundation of all law. 

"Now, these judges in their oath of office promised to sup- 
port the constitution. Have they been misquoted by the press, 

23 



or have they so far forgotten tlieir dignity as to perjure ihem- 
selves? 

"Are we in a position to point the finger of scorn at what we 
call the autocracy of Russia, wlien a great deal of what we call 
business under our system isn't as honorable as highway robbery? 
'Rhode Island — a State For Sale,' by Lincoln Steffens, describes 
the management of Sawyer County to a dot, even to the amount 
of territory — they each occupy 3 8 townships. 

"When Mr. Irvine was here July 20, 1904, he offered to let 
this controversy be settled by any circuit judge in the state, and 
especially recommended Judge Vinje as a good, honest, reliable 
judge. I asked Mr. Irvine what was the use of bothering other 
l)eople with our affairs? I said, 'You are the manager of the 
Chippewa Lumber and Boom Company and I am manager here; 
why can't we settle this ourselves? I have shown you our papers 
to prove that we have a clear title to this land. All you have to 
do is to show your papers and if you have the right title you can 
have the dam without a word, as I do not want what doesn't 
belong to me.' Although there have been numerous representa- 
tives of the company here since that time, they have never pro- 
duced the scratch of a pen to prove that they owned the dam. 

"A farmer by the name of Rossler bought the land on which 
the Shaw dam is located, and in the spring of 1905 he notified 
the company that the Shaw dam was his property, and they im- 
mediately settled with Mr. Rossler, giving him a tract of land 
and $20 a month the year round for its use. Why didn't they 
shoot Mr. Rossler, the same as they have tried to do with me? 
Possibly they thought that it wouldn't look well to have a war 
with two different men over dams on the same stream at the 
same time. 

That First Injunction. 

"April 2 7 Sheriff Peterson came and handed me my mail and 
said: 'There is a copy of an injunction in it, but it don't amount 
to a damn; it's only a bluff.' 

First Trap. 

"On May 3 Fred Clarke came and coaxed me to go out with 
him to Hayward. He said if I didn't they would send in an 
armed posse to shoot me, and said further: 'I am telling you 
as a friend, John, if you don't go out with me they will kill 
you.' This naturally put me on the alert, and I watched the 
road to see if anybody came, and if so, who, and how many. 

First Assassination Attempt. 

"On May 9, 1904, ex-Sheriff Giblin and his gang, composed 
mostly of the driving crew and non-residents of Sawyer County, 
came armed to the teeth. I was waiting to count four, when 
No. 3, Giblin, reached up to the open space with his gun to 
his shoulder and shot four shots at me as fast as he could work 
the lever. The bullets struck the knoll right in front of my face 
and threw dirt in my eyes. I shot one shot at him, but as my 
eyes were full of dirt I could hardly see, and consequently 
missed him. 

Second Assassination Attempt, July 25, 1906. 

"The facts about the battle of July 25, 1906, are these: We 
hauled in a load of hay before dinner. When we had about half 

24 



the second load on we heard someone call dinner. This was about 
12 o'clock and my wife had said she would have dinner about 
half past twelve. After dinner we hurried to unload the hay, 
as it was threatening rain. Clarence was on the load, Leslie and 
myself in the barn, Myra driving the team on the hay fork and 
my wife pulling back the rope. Just as we had the load off, my 
wife noticed a cow going south with her head up smelling. She 
told Helen to go and see what the cow was looking at. Helen 
ran down to the brow of the hill and saw men with guns, then 
she came back and told us. I took my gun and went to the brow 
of the hill, but could see no one. I called: 'Get off of my 
place.' I soon saw two men crawling through the grass, going 
south toward the camp. They crawled about 2 00 yards until they 
came to a bunch of logs, then they got up and walked until they 
were in the woods close to the camp, which is about 120 rods 
from our house. I followed down the path on the side hill and 
kept ordering them off. I was about 70 rods from the house, in 
sight of the dam and camp, when Leslie came down and said: 
'Pa, come back; there are more in there yet. We saw two crawl 
out west since you left and cross the river." When I got Ijack 
I said I guessed they were all gone. Clarence insisted that there 
were more In there and said he heard them breaking brush. I 
said: 'If you think there are any more in there why don't you 
go and drive them off?' Clarence went down the hill about three 
rods from where I stood, and had gone by Rogich, when I saw a 
streak of smoke. Clarence threw up his hands and fell on his 
back. We heard the report of a gun about ten seconds before 
Rogich shot Clarence; there was a shot fired down near the 
camp. As soon as Clarence fell, I called to my wife and told 
her that they had killed him, thence I commenced shooting into 
the bunch of willows where that shot came from. 

"In a few seconds another shot came from the same spot and 
Leslie dodged, and said the bullet came so close to his face he 
felt it burn. I told Leslie there was no use dodging after the 
bullet had gone by, and he commenced shooting into the clump 
of willows. Then they began shooting at us from across the 
river — I should judge there were eight or ten of them, and they 
must have emptied their guns, for their firing ceased about the 
time we emptied our guns. By this time Clarence had crawled 
up to where we were and we all started for the house, which was 
about ten rods distant. When we were about half way to the 
house the firing commenced again from across the river, and 
we could see little clouds of dust where the bullets struck in 
front of the house, close to my wife and the children. I saw 
Hedrington, the company foi-eman, swinging his arms and heard 
him shouting: 'Shoot the sons of .' As soon as I re- 
loaded my gun I went out and took a shot at Hedrington, for he 
was the only one in sight, and he 'ducked,' and that ended the 
bottle. At this time Rogich appeared, the first time on the 
bunch of logs that I mentioned before, and Leslie shot at him 
and he fell as though he had been struck with an ax. That was 
the one that struck him in the neck, for he was south of us and 
going southwest, and the bullet must have struck him on the left 
side of the neck. He then crawled about 50 yards through the 
grass, got up and walked away in plain sight for about 100 
rods. We didn't shoot at him any more, for he walked as if he 
had all the load he wanted to carry. I only saw four of that 
party and think I could have killed three of them had I so de- 
sired; two of them disappeared ])efore the shooting began. 

25 




I hoto by Klein; Milw. 



oMyra Deitz 



The "expert shot" who never fired a gun in her life. 



"After an altercation along the highway Giblin and Elliot 
came up to the company's driving camp near the farm and were 
standing near the dam. I was behind a stump watching them 
and my boys were building fence up on the side hill. Elliot drew 
his rifle three times to shoot one of the boys, but each time 
Giblin pulled his gun down. When Elliot returned to Hayward 
he told several of the residents that if Giblin had let him shoot 
one of the boys that would have brought me out to Hayward. 
Elliot was severely rebuked by several residents of Hayward at 
the time." 

Deitz a Man of Peace. 

"I fail to see where I would be the gainer by shedding any 
blood, except in self-defense. 

"That I do not want to kill anybody is shown by the fact that 
while hundreds of persons have come here and persecuted us in 
every conceivable manner, Rogich was the first one to get shot. 

"Wouldn't I have been as desirous of killing him after he 
shot Clarence as before he had fired a shot? If I had wanted to 
kill him I could have shot him twenty times before he was out 
of sight. 

"He only got his just dues and received punishment worse 
than death; he may possibly repent for his sins. If Rogich had 
returned in a peaceable manner after he was wounded he would 
have received better treatment at our hands than he did from his 
partners in crime. 

"Justice" at Chippewa Falls. 

"At the trial of Weisenbach in Chippewa Falls he was con- 
victed and sentenced to twelve years as an accomplice of mine. 
The only witness who testified that Weisenbach was with me 
when the alleged firing was done was impeached by seven wit- 
nesses, who swore that the witness, Edwin Geog, alias Winn, had 
a bad reputation for truth and veracity in the community in 
which he had resided. His testimony was disputed by W^eisen- 
bach himself, and the judge in his charge to the jury did not 
make any reference to this impeachment. 

Company's Chief Attorney's AVork. 

"Connor was the first one to proclaim me an 'outlaw,' and he 
is at it yet. It was Connor who furnished $5 00 to defray the 
expenses of the first armed mob that came here. 

"I would like to have the wise man from Chippewa Falls 
explain how Sheriff Gylland could afford to spend $500 on his 
last raid on a salary of $1,000 a year. 

Sheep in Wolf's Clothing. 

"Last winter was the first schooling my children have had 
since they came to this country — nearly six years ago — although 
there is annually expended about $35,000 for school and graft 
purposes on only eighteen schools. A young lady from Rice Lake 
taught five months in our house, and she must calculate to follow 
the occupation of teaching the young idea how to shoot, for she 
appropriated a lot of my cartridges and searched our bureau 
drawer through from top to bottom, evidently for the purpose 
of getting our papers, but she didn't succeed, for they were in a 
safe place." 

27 



Mr. Deitz, hearing of the introduction of this resolution, 
wrote the following characteristic letter to Representative 
Weber : 

"My Dear Sir: Please accept the sincere gratitude of myself 
and family for your kindness in introducing that resolution for 
investigation, as it is high time this corporation conspiracy is 
shown up to the public in its true light. 

"Of course the corporation will object to anything that is 
fair or to anyone being on that committee who isn't 'safe,' or 
whose honor is above the glitter of gold. 

"I would be very much pleased to meet you, as one of 
that committee or otherwise, as I have nothing to conceal and 
a whole lot to reveal of how we have been held in abject cor- 
poration slavery for the past three years. They have also added 
insult to injury by blackening me as an outlaw, anarchist, etc., 
because I had the hardihood to stand on my constitutional rights. 
Hoping to hear from you in the near future, I am 

"Yours very truly, 

"JOHN F. DEITZ." 

Here is another letter from Mr. Deitz, a little later, 
throwing a vivid light upon the character of the man and 
the methods and means used to blacken his name and rob 
him of his rightful possessions : 

"Winter, Wis., June 30, 1907. 
"Mr. H. C. Riley, 

"Secretai'y Winneconne Old Home Week Association. 

"Dear Sir: Your kind invitation to attend the homecoming 
is at hand, and in reply will say, would be very much pleased 
to be with you on that particular occasion, but duty compels my 
presence at home to protect my home and family from a ruthless 
band of would-be robbers and assassins at the instance of the 
richest lumber company in the world. 

"I was born at Winneconne, April 4, 1861, and my wife, 
Hattie E. (Young) Deitz, was born in the town of Clayton, 
December 26, 1866. That you will all have a good time and 
fair weather without any misfortune, is the most fervent 
prayer of your humble servant, but while enjoying your fes- 
tivities and reading that immortal document, the Declaration 
of Independence, don't lose sight of the fact that within the bor- 
ders of Wisconsin myself and family are being held in abject 
corporation slavery and are being blackened and persecuted by 

28 



nefarious methods known only to satan and his imps, without 
one word of protest from the state authorities, and I can truth- 
fully say that in Wisconsin justice cannot be had when the money 
powers forbid, and that law and order have been prostituted to 
assist the grasping tentacles of the corporation. 

"I am going to the stake if necessary in the defense of the 
sacred and constitutional rights of life, liberty and property, for 
my trust is in Him that doeth all things well. The Allseeing Eye 
has had a watchful care over us and prevented our untimely 
death, for hundreds of bullets have been fired at us from ambush 
in the past three years. In conclusion, 

"I ask the favor that this letter be read before the peo- 
ple there assembled, and that some action be taken whereby 
some competent or reliable person or persons will come liere and 
make a thorough investigation and proclaim it to the world, that 
the public may know the truth, so that I cannot be branded as a 
felon, should I lose my life in the contest. With kind regards 
of myself and family to all true lovers of liberty and equity, I 
am, Yours faithfully, 

"JOHN DEITZ." 

Let me cite another letter from Mr. Deitz showing the 
thorough knavery of the lumber company : 

"Cameron Dam, Wis., Dec. 23, 1907. 

"To the Editor of The Osceola Sun. 

"Dear Sir: On June 10, 1907, one W. E. Moses made his 
first appearance on Thornapple, claiming to be a direct agent 
from F. Weyerhauser, with authority to settle up all the differ- 
ences with us. 

"He asked me not to write anything for publication, prom- 
ising to have all indictments quashed and to clear away 
every cloud that hung over the Deitz family, and has even 
went so far as to ask my consent to the pardon of Weisenbach 
and to having District Attorney McNamara removed from office 
and S. J. Williams appointed in his place, with the excuse that 
Williams was friendly to me and would see that I got my just 
dues. 

"Every time Moses comes here he has some excuse that he 
is doing his best and has an influential person after Parish to 
drive him in line. Moses invited our whole family up to his 
camp for dinner one Sunday. If we had gone I am satisfied that 
when we returned we would have found our home in ashes. 

29 



"The fact is, Moses hasn't tried to do any of the hundred 
and one things he has promised, but is simply trying to cut our 
throats with a feather, until he thinks it is time to use the sword, 
and I had the satisfaction of telling him so last evening. 

"On September 16, 1907, Moses came here and paid me my 
wages, $1,717, for work on Price Dam, also saying that within 
sixty days he would have everything settled and cleared up so 
that we would be safe to go and come as we pleased, and all the 
time his hirelings have been sneaking around our field looking 
for a sure shot at us. 

"When the head beatlers of the company at Chippewa Falls 
denied that Moses has paid me any money, I asked Moses to give 
me a copy of the receipt. Moses said: 'You don't need a copy; 
you have got the money.' I told Moses that I didn't think it 
necessary at the time of settlement to have a copy, but as the com- 
pany was denying a settlement, it was as much as to say that 
he wasn't their agent. 

"Then Moses agreed to get me an exact typewritten copy, but 
whether he will do so or not, remains to be seen. Two weeks 
before Moses paid me my wages he came here and scattered a lot 
of money on our table, saying there is $1,720 for your wages, if 
you will sign a contract that it removes all bones of contention. 

"I told Moses that I couldn't accept my wages by selling my 
birthright, and that his company owed me $8,000 for sluicing, 
according to law, and that results show they blew out the dam for 
the purpose of getting a million and a half of logs off our land. 

"After looking over our papers Moses admitted that we had 
absolute title to the dam, and that he told Weyerhauser so, and 
that Weyerhauser said then Mr. Deitz has been wronged and it 
has got to be made right, but so far results show that Weyer- 
hauser has millions for conspiracy to murder, but hasn't money 
to pay his honest debts. The reason he is so bold, he knows he 
has every function of government under his thumb. 

"For four long years myself and family have been the targets 
for conspiracy, blackmailing and bullets of the land pirates and 
timber wolves. Now, dear reader, isn't this a great condition to 
rear a family of children under in a land of liberty? If such a 
state of affairs is allowed to continue, the stars and stripes should 
be hung at half mast to mourn the death of our nation, for the 
grasping tentacles of the corporation has liberty by the throat. 

"Yours truly, 

"JOHN F. DEITZ." 
31 



The Shooting pf Myra. 

Finally, last summer, when Sheriff ^Madden at last saw 
a chance for revenge for his humiliation in the election of 
1902, he placed an ambush, together with Thorbahn and Van 
Alstyne, for catching Deitz on his weekly trip to Winter, 
the nearest town to Cameron Dam. 

The shooting of jNIyra Deitz and the brutal treatment 
she was afterwards subjected to by Sheriff^ ]\radden and his 
chief deputy, Thorbahn, and Van Alstyne, the mail robber, 
cannot be matched for cruelty and wanton brutality by any 
events in civilization except the Russian government's 
treatment of the Nihilists. 

Darkest Wisconsin under the lumber trust is as barba- 
rously treated as darkest Russia under czarism. 

A little more than ten weeks ago, on Saturday, the 1st 
of October, Clarence, Leslie and Myra Deitz were going to 
Winter, the nearest town to Cameron Dam, to make their 
usual weekly purchases for the family. They had no sus- 
picions of danger, they felt happy and were singing, having 
no arms of any kind. 

They were about half way to Winter when the horses 
showed excitement, and the next moment two shots were 
fired, followed in quick succession by ten or a dozen more. 
The first shot took effect, Clarence being hit in the arm, 
but he had enough presence of mind to hold the horses. 
Myra received a bullet in the left side, which later exam- 
ination of the wound showed to have passed diagonally 
through the body, grazing the kidneys and passing out after 
splintering the spine. When shot she fell over the dashboard. 

Leslie jumped from the wagon to run home for help. 
His doing so probably saved his sister and Clarence, for 
the official higliwaymen then sent their bullets after him. 
It is said that they fired more than a hundred shots after 
him, and yet he escaped unhurt. 

Then the three marksmen rushed up to the rig, and while 
the brave Thorbahn covered Myra with two six-shooters, 

32 



and Van Alstyne courageously covered Clarence with his 
Winchester, that nervy Sheriff IMadden, who afterwards in 
court declared that he had neither ordered nor seen the 
shooting because he was back in the woods at the time, 
clapped handcuffs on Myra and Clarence. Clarence is to 
be tried, among other things, for resisting arrest. This re- 
sistance consisted in demanding to see the warrant, and 
when Madden did not produce it, protesting that he had 
no right to arrest them without a warrant. 

When the case came up in court Madden admitted that 
he had no warrant, and it was three days before he got one, 
ex post facto, to be served on these two innocent people. 

Then the three official guardians of laAV and order took 
charge of the outfit. Continually threatening the two 
wounded occupants wath their guns, they put Myra at the 
bottom, and then drove on regardless of her pleas to drive 
easy. As she bled profusely, she longed for water, and on 
passing a creek she begged for a drink, but Madden told 
her she could wait until they reached Winter. 

When they got there ^Madden left Thorbahn in charge 
of Myra and took Clarence to Hayward jail. Thorbahn 
brought Myra to the hotel and, revolver in hand, made her 
sit on a chair bleeding, although there was a bed in the 
room, and she begged to be allowed to rest on it. There she 
sat a long while before the physician. Dr. Burns, arrived. 
When he took Myra into another room, Thorbahn tried to 
force his way in, but was stopped by the doctor. 

Dr. Burns, however, merely applied a dry bandage. 
When ]\Iyra asked him to examine her wound, because she 
felt the i^ain of the wound in her back as well as in her side, 
he refused, and said she had merely received a surface flesh 
wound. 

Thus she remained with this legal cerberus watching 
her until IMonday, when he took her to the hospital at Ash- 
land, some fifty miles distant. 

The physician there seeing the careless way she had been 
attended to was horrified, and found that an operation 



would be necessary to save her life. If properly cared for at 
Winter probably no operation would have been required. 
We quote Ashland News : 

That Criminal Sheriff. 

At the time, Sheriff Madden proclaimed to the news- 
papers that Miss Deitz was an expert marksman, fully as 
dangerous as any of the family when behind the gun. Miss 
Deitz declared that she had never fired a gun in her life 
and that therefore the warrant which Madden read to her 
was absolutely ridiculous, and now Attorney Lamoreaux, 
in his statement for the persecution, admits that after in- 
vestigation they have found that Miss Deitz never used a 
rifle. Commenting upon this, the Ashland News, December 6, 
says: "Miss Deitz was dangerously shot by an officer of Saw- 
yer county and brutally handcuffed after being wounded. 

"She was confined for weeks in a hospital with a wound 
that gave her great suft'ering, and yet on a sick bed, had to 
endure the humiliation of having a deputy sheriff stand 
guard over her, opening all her personal, private mail and 
refusing to admit friends to her room, and after all this 
experience, which it is claimed has been taken in the name 
of the law, the announcement is suddenly made by the 
prosecution that they have no case against Miss Deitz and 
no ground whatever for the terrible wrongs they have in- 
flicted upon her. 

"It certainly seems incredible to believe that such in- 
justice would be worked out against an American woman, 
and yet no suggestion of punishment is made for such 
actions." 

Sawyer county is likely to have to pay heavily for that 
outrage. It would have been well for them if they had 
followed the advice of the Milwaukee Journal some two or 
three years ago and paid "Deitz his claim against the com- 
pany rather than stand the expenses that are likely to be 
incurred before the row is settled." 

34 



The Surrender. 

Not satisfied with having shot down a poor, innocent 
girl in cold blood, Sheriff Madden shortly gathered a large 
posse and went to Cameron Dam to take Deitz dead or alive. 

The shooting of Myra had roused the public, and he was 
compelled to parley for surrender. From sad experience 
Deitz well knew, and by this time the readers also know, 
what chance of justice he would have should he surrender 
unconditionally. So he demanded as a condition that all 
charges against him would be dismissed. 

Governor Davidson was by public opinion compelled to 
interfere, so it w^as agreed to waive all charges save that 
of the wounding of Rogish. Of course, that left the real sit- 
uation just where it was before, and so Deitz refused. 

The deputies had surrounded Deitz 's little cabin and 
began a fusillade against its brave defender. It is said that 
more than a thousand shots were fired before they surren- 
dered, and it is little short of a miracle that they escaped 
unhurt and uninjured. Everything is now centering upon 
Ihe conviction of John F. Deitz. 



Appeal to the Public. 

Let no one imagine for an instant that the righteousness 
of his cause will carry him safely through the now com- 
menced trial, secure his honorable acquittal and restore him 
to his loving, loyal family. It is an open secret that nearly all 
the circuit judges in Northern Wisconsin owe their positions 
to the influence of the lumber trust. It is even charged 
that in its infamous attacks upon John F. Deitz, the lumber 
trust has been advised by a member of a high judicial 
tribunal of the state. 

The fact that the legislature could turn down a simple 
resolution asking for an investigation on the flimsy pretext 
that they "possessed no jurisdiction" in such matters, shows 
where the legislature stands on the question. 

35 



The further fact that the sheriff with two other brutes 
could ambush and shoot down a poor girl and after- 
wards treat her as though she were the most execrable 
criminal on earth, without governor, attorney general and 
other state officials demanding their arrest and trial, shows 
what power the lumber trust exercises over the official ad- 
ministration of the state. 

No doubt there are men in this state and indeed 
throughout the countrj^ who wish to see justice done, 
but all their efforts to secure for Deitz a fair trial will be 
in vain unless an overwhelming general sentiment through- 
out the state and the states secures him that boon. 

Unless this can be done, Deitz is doomed. He may be 
sentenced to pass the remainder of his life in a felon's cell 
for no other reason than that he defended his family and 
himself in his own home from official and officially hired 
assassins. 

Wisconsin citizens, are you willing that such a crime 
shall be committed in the name of the state of Wisconsin? 

Citizens of the United States, the cruelties and brutali- 
ties perpetrated in the name of law and order by the officials 
of Sawyer county, as well as the courts, at the behest of 
the seven hundred million dollar robber lumber trust, if 
allowed to eventuate in the condemnation of John F. Deitz 
because of his lawful, righteous and brave defense of his 
property and his family, will be an indelible disgrace, indel- 
ibly not only to Wisconsin, but the United States, before the 
whole world. 

Are you going to put that stain upon the starry banner 
of the states by not doing your utmost to see to it that John 
F. Deitz is secured an absolutely fair trial by the courts? 



At an enthusiastic mass meeting in the Auditorium, Milwaukee, 
Sunday, Dec. ii, 1910, after Clarence and Myra Deitz had thrilled 
the audience by their horrible, vivid description of their 
miraculous escape from death in the murderous outrages commit- 
ted upon them by Sawyer County officials, the following resolution, 

36 



presented by Dr. Axel Gustafson, was unanimously passed by a 
rising vote and copies of said resolution have been forwarded to 
the Governor, Attorney General and trial Judge: 



RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY UNANIMOUS RISING 
VOTE AT MASS MEETING AT AUDITOR- 
IUM, MILWAUKEE, DEC. 11, 1910. 



Recognizing that it is a constitutional right of every person in 
this state and the United States, when accused of crime, to receive 
a fair and impartial hearing of his case in the courts, and obtain 
statutory judgment according to evidence presented at the trial. 

Recognizing that a fair and impartial trial and judgment neces- 
sitates an unbiased judge and an unprejudiced jury, with an open 
mind, free to weigh all evidence presented, solely on its merits. 

WHEREAS, Indisputable data, in the history of the Deitz 
cases, extending over six years, show that lawless persecutions and 
outrages have repeatedly been committed against John F. Deitz and 
the members of his family by the officials and judges of Sawyer 
County; 

WHEREAS, The Chippewa Falls and the Mississippi Valley 
Companies oi the Weyerhaeuser Lumber Trust have been the prime 
instigators and movers in these lawless acts; 

WHEREAS, The inhabitants of Sawyer County, almost to a 
man are employes or dependents of said lumber company; 

WHEREAS, Under such a state of affairs manifestly it is im- 
possible to secure a fair and impartial trial with a jury in Sawyer 
County to try the Deitz cases; and 

WHEREAS, Similar, vital objections, and for the sarhe rea- 
sons, lie against the submission of the Deitz cases to jurors drawn 
in any other of the northern counties of the state; therefore, be it 

RESOLVED, That it is the sense of this body of citizens in 
mass meeting assembled in the Auditorium of Milwaukee, that un- 
less a change of venue be granted to a county free from domina- 
tion of the baneful influences of the lumber companies, it will be 
impossible for John F. Deitz or any of his family to obtain a fair 
and impartial trial. And that while we are perfectly confident that 
under just and fair conditions, Attorney Rubin will be sure to se- 

37 



cure a verdict according to the evidence; we are equally certain 
that no counsel, no matter hov^r able or numerous, could secure 
justice for Deitz in Sawyer County under any conditions, and there- 
fore we affirm it as our belief that if this trial be held in Sawyer 
County it will eventually result in a miscarriage of justice involving 
a grave blow to public faith in our judiciary, far reaching dangers 
to the peace of the state and a nindellible stain upon the good 
name and reputation of Wisconsin abroad. 

Copies of these resolutions have been sent to Governor David- 
son, Attorney General Gilbert, Chief Justice Winslow of the Su- 
preme Court, and the presiding Judge Reid at Hayward. 



18 



m s issi 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



l&U 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 




016 098 121 Q0 




PIAOKAM OF THK DEITE PREMISES. 



